Police Say Border Patrol Agent Who Murdered Four Women Is A Serial Killer

Over the weekend, officials arrested a U.S. border patrol agent who confessed to killing four women. The arrest of 35-year-old Juan David Ortiz only came, thankfully, after one of his victims was able to escape. Police in Webb County, Texas, say that Ortiz had killed four women in just a week — two women had been killed on Saturday alone.

Officials have said that Ortiz targeted women who were sex workers. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, Webb County-Zapata County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz described the details of what occurred when the fifth victim escaped: “… she went willingly with him and then while she was with him things started to get dangerous for her and when she tried to escape from him at a gas station that’s when she ran into a trooper,” Alaniz said to The Texas Tribune. “In our opinion he is the sole person responsible for this horrific serial killing spree.”

He went on to say that the woman whom escaped talked to the killer about her friend — one of the women who had been found dead — and that’s when Ortiz began to “act weird.”

“David grabbed her shirt to prevent her from exiting the vehicle,” an affidavit states, according to the Tribune. “Erika began to scream for help. Erika pulled off her shirt allowing her to escape and run away from the vehicle.”

It was only after the woman had escaped and located a trooper that police were able to locate Ortiz hiding in a hotel parking lot. After a brief foot chase, Ortiz was arrested and is being held on a $2.5 million bond.

In a statement released by ABC News, a spokesperson for the U.S. Border Patrol said: “Our sincerest condolences go out to the victims’ family and friends. While it is CBP policy to not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation, criminal action by our employees is not, and will not be tolerated.”

Araceli Cruz is a freelance journalist living in Savannah, Georgia. She’s covered Latinx topics at Mitú and Brit + Co., and has written for publications such as Teen Vogue, The Village Voice, GOOD Magazine, and Rolling Stone, among others.